The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-02-19
HUNGRY CUSTOMERS.
AN ANNOYANCE TO WHICH SOME
TRADESMEN ARE SUBJECTED.
Continual Pilfering from the Grocers'
Exposed Packages Of Fruits. Candles
and Nuts-Hard to Draw the Line.
One Mans Plan.

Exposed Packages Of Fruits. Candles
and Nuts-Hard to Draw the Line.
One Mans Plan.
Zone of the petty nuisances we have to
suffer in our line of business, - said q Wabash
avenue grocer, 'is the continual pilferings
from our counters from exposed packages of
fruits, candies, nuts, ETC., which our bust
ness compel us to display to make them at
tractive. Now see that old man with his
daughter coming in at the door. He is q
regular customer and comes in almost every
evening Seei No sooner does he get
through the door than out goes his hand for
a small bunch of grapes. There is nothing
surreptitious in the act on his part, as you
will notice. He evidently thinks he does
nothing wrong and unconsciously helps him
self to a small handful of some enticing NOR
sci which his palate takes a fancy to almost
every evening, as you see he has just done.
Like father like SON will apply to the
daughter also, for there goes the young lady,
who is waiting for her father to make his
evening purchases, making a bee line for the
candy counter, small bit from one tray and
n dip into another, until the entire circuit Of
the store is made. Ii is true that what they
have eaten is of small value, but during a
whole day with the hundreds of customers
we have going in and out, the aggregate
amount of our losses in this very same way
is much larger than you would suppose"
Il stand in this part of the store, " said
of the statesmen, 1.-THE entire day and
have the very best opportunity for observing
people who lunch, as we term it. III give
you an instance of how severely we suffer at
times from these seemingly unconscious as
similations, politely speaking. One day last
week. after being more than usually annoyed
ut the liberty taken in this by way an elderly
woman with every appearance of refinement
and respectability, / resolved to test the mat
ter of these losses to my employer by placing
five pound box of Tokay grapes where
every one coming in and going out must pass
them. This 1 did in the morning as soon as
the store was opened, and by O'Clock in
the afternoon, give you my word of honor,
there was not u single grape in that boxl
HARD To DRAW THE LINE.
81 went to our manager and told him of
my experience, and he gave strict instruc
tions to call the attention of any one who
was taking such liberties to the fact
that the goods were exposed for sale, and
were not samples for fsratuitous distribution,
as they seemed to think. We were also
given to understand that if did this re-
spectfully our conduct would meet with the
support and encouragement of the proprie
tor. Still, with these rules We must draw
the line somewhere, and it is hard to tell
whose trade is very profitable, and were we
TO speak to them of such an action a
liberty taken, and even in the most respect
fu manner reprove them they would be
of, 'nded beyond our ability to explain the
reason of our doing so and we should certain
ly lose their trade and their good will for
ever"
At another store, where the counters are
ornamented in profusion with delicacies in
Of
plaint was made although no instructions
had been given statesmen to lessen the
noyance. This proprietor smiled dryly in
conversing with a reporter on the topic and
finally said: "One of my experiences with
the lunch business, as we call it, was at our
cracker and cheese counter. For a long
time we had our dairy department in an out
of the way place in the store, and near by
were the cracker boxes and barrels. On sew
eral OCCASIONS during the middle Of the day
had frequently stood almost directly over
this spot and could easily see the movements
of every one in the store Now it might
sound absurd for me to say that a business
man and neighbor would come into my place
AMI go directly to that cheese counter and
cracker barrel and h elp himself to midday
lunch, but it is a fact nevertheless.
PUT A STOP TO 1T.
''And not only did one man do it, but
during the course of a week when was in
terested in the cheekiness of the liberty
taken with my goods, beyond my pecuniary
loss therefrom, l watched that particular
locality more closely than usual Believe
me | saw no less than five men come to that
counter and help themselves every day until
i put II stop to it by moving these articles to
other places, where by a different arrange
ment this sponging could not be continued
without b,ing downright theft. Well it
would have been worth a week. salary to
you to have watched that counter with me
the following day. tt sy came in singly and
by pairs shortly after II O'Clock and ON
reaching their accust oIned haunts a LOOK of
blank astonishlnent depicted ON their
countenances at the met tamorphosis of that
particular spot. L almost afraid it
would be necessary to take their ante NOR
tenn statement before they could leave my
store"
"Do you have any other similar annoy
ances in your business was asked
well Yes, there is one other. but it is far
more serious, and l hardly should speak Of
il. Our system of cash sales requires the
purchaser to pay for his articles at "a cashiers
desk on goin-, out. We have i'll some cases.
caught people trying To leave the store with
out settling, but it does not occur very fire.
quently, as our statesmen are made response
BILE for their checks and il is their duty TO
see their checks are presented to the cashier
for pa yment, but of course during the busy
hours of the day this is impossible. Business
is very good with US just now and viii be
until after the holidays. C Chicago Tribune.
Valuable Experience OF n Newspaper
Man.
Mr.. Chas. III. Pratt, business Manager
of our cotemporary, the Palatka Herdid.
adds the following valuable testimony ::
PALATKA, January 20, 1887.
Swift Specirc Co.. Atlanta. Ga:
IENTI pNIEN- Ring worm has nrnkAn